Nut lock



March 16, 1937.

I NUT LOCK Filed Sept. 21, 19:55

' A. c. FAVATT 2,073,612

Ratent'ed 16 PATENT OFFICE Angel 6. Favatt, Reno, New, assignor to Positive.

1 Lock Nut (lorporationpacorporation of Nevada Application septeniber 21. 1935, Serial No. 41,617

j -2 Claims. (01.15145) It is well known in the art to provide nut lo'cks i of various miscellany and the present invention is designed to improve certain types 61 the so called side clutchloclgs to correct manufacturing andoperatlng defects and to provide a positive lock ofsimple construction capable-oi use with any standard type ofnut and bolt. 7 It is further within the contemplation of this' inventionto provide a nut lock which is arranged facile lockingand unlocking or the nut.

- It is a further object r this invention t6-provide a nut lockwherein the nut is provided with atankential slot which opens into its bore, so that adetent mounted1in the recess may impinge the threads or a bolt with which the nut is engaged, care being exercised to constrict the nut recess near the point where it opens into the nut bore to retain the detent at all times on one a side of the'longitudinal axis of the bolt which preconvenient release thereof atthe option of the,

user.

Other. objects will be apparent fromthe consideration of the drawing, whreinL- Fig. l is 'a plan view of a nut'a'nd bolt illustrating the application of a preferred form of my nut lock. I Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sect'ionalview taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows, showing the details of the locking means. i

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows, illustrating the manner of, engaging the locking ball withthethreads of the bolt.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows, illustrating the manner of mounting the spherical detent in the nut. 5 Fig.5 is a vertical sectional view of the nut per se,showing the detent recess opening into the .nut'bore. f

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view throu h.- the nut and bolt showing a modified form of locking means. g 1i Fig. 7 'is a similar view showing a further modifled iorm of lock, and 1 Fig. 8 is a side elevational viewof the nut shown in Fig. 7. I

In order to illustrate the-application of my in-' vention, I have. shown a bolt 8* of conventional.

, design mounted in an operative positionthrough work elements 9. The bolt is adapted to beengaged by a nut III also oi. conventional design at a point of convenient accessibility toberlmit' vents the detent from jamming and permits except" for the particular'locking means of my invention. f

. One form of locking 'means, as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, in the drawing, consists in providing a recess Ilin the nut, the recess 5 I opening through the outer face of the nut and extending .therei'nto to a point approximately midway the nut faces where it turns at right angles extending to one of the sides of the nut tangential to the bore of the. latter. A re'ctangularrecess 1 is in this way provided, the horizontal portion of which is adapted ior'the reception of a yieldable detent, whichin the present instance consists of a ball II which is engaged by one end of a coil spring l3'. The oppositeend oflthe spring impinges against :a'plug M, which latter fills the outer terminalof the recess. at the side of the nut, as illustrated to advantage in Figs. Zand 4.- Qf the essence of importance in the present invention is a stricture l5 formed in the horizontal portion of the recess ll adjacent the juncture of the horizontal and vertical portions of the recess. The stricture is formed by contracting the walls of the. recess so as to limit the" extent of ii'iove-v ment of the ball I2 for a purpose more fully hereinafter set forth. The jrecess- I I; at the juncture .of the angle thereof, opens through the nut bore, as indicated at l6, through which a portion or the periphery of the ball is adapted to project for engagement with threads 01 the bolt v 8, as illustrated to advantage in Fig. 3.

' It is manifest from theabove description that the ball I! is normally. urged into engagement with the threads of the bolt under t e expansive action oi the spring I3. This prevents movement 35 of the nut in one direction, but allows movement in the opposite direction. To permit movement of thenut in either direction on the bolt, a suitable ball displacing means is provided which in the present instance consists of a screw II, the 4 outer periphery of the screw being threaded. The inner end of the screw is extended and tapered to provide a conical terminal l8. The opposite end of the crew is provided with a kerf l9 for the\ reception of a screw driver or like instrument in 45 a'manner well known in the art. If the screw I1 is fed inwardly in the nut, the conical terminal 18 thereof will engage the ball l2, and urge the latter away from the opening I6, against the resistance of the spring l3. 5o

Ihave found after much experimentationthat the lock above described is positive -in"its operation yet will not Jam to the extent that disengagement of the ball from the threads is renopens into the bore of the latter.

stricture l5 renders it impossible for the ball to move into a position directly beneath the displacing means l'l, consequently, the latter'is available at all times to displace the detent or ball from the nut. Furthermore, by mounting the displacing means in' the outer face of the nut, this means is always readily accessible.

In the form of invention shown 'in Fig. 6 of the drawing, I provide a tangential opening II' which extends completely across the nut and One end of the recess is closed by a plug H. A spring detent I 2 is mounted at the plugged end of the recess, while'in the opposite end of the latter, I adjustably mount a displacement means ll consisting of a screw having an extended shank 20 on its inner end. The terminal of said shank is adapted to engage the ball of the spring detent l2 to displace the latter. The inner end of the detent receiving portion of the recess ll is tapered to provide a stricture I5 which serves in the same capacity as the strictur IS in the form of invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5. This construction prevents the ball of the detent to extend beyond a line drawn parallelto the longitudinal axis of the bolt thereby preventing jamming of the ball of the detent, yet providing a positive locking means. In the form of invention shown in Fig. 6,. it is manifest that the nut is locked from movement in one direction only,

movement in the opposite direction being permit ted, regardless of the position of the detent. When the detent is in a locked position, displacement thereof is eilected by operation 'of the displacement means ll' in an obvious manner.

The modified form of invention" shown in Fig. 7 of the drawing. is identical to that shown in Fig. 6, but the locking and releasing means illustrated in Fig. 6 is duplicated and arranged to lie in parallelism to one another in the nut. Furthermore, as illustrated to advantage in Fig.

8 of the drawing, recesses H are provided which are biplanar to positively engage the spring detents of the looks with the periphery of a thread on opposite sides of the latter. When the detents, shown in Fig. 7 of the drawing are engaged with a thread of the bolt, movement of the latter in either direction is prohibited. This form of lock nut is adapted for use where the'nut is to be held stationary. Release of the nut is effected in a manifest manner.

I have found that the particular positioning of the ball detents is of extreme importance in a nut lock of this type to make the detent effective as a lock, yet preventing jamming thereof, and likewise preventing casual displacement.

While I have herein described preierred'forms of my invention, I am aware that various changes may be made in the details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts within the scope of the claims herewith appended.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a nut and bolt, the nut having a recess beginning at one face of the nut and extending parallel to the bore of the latter, said recess continuing at right angles tangenti-ally to the nut bore in communication with the latter, a yieldable bolt engaging spherical detent mounted in the tangential portion of said recess, and a screw mounted in the portion of the recess which parallels the nut bore, the inner end of the screw being cone shape to facilitate its movement over the periphery of the detent, said detent being positioned in oifset relation with reference to the screw to permit lateral displacement of the detent away from the bolt.

2. 'In combination with a nut and bolt, the nut having a recess beginning at one face of the nut and extending parallel to the bore of the latter, said recess continuing at right angles tangentially to the nut bore in communication with the latter, a yieldable bolt engaging spherical detent mounted in .the tangential portion of said recess, and a screw mounted in the portion of the recess which parallels the nut bore for displacing the detent, the tangential portion of the recess being constricted at the juncture of the parallel recess to prevent the detent from being forced completely into the latter and to bring the detent in off center position with reference to the screw.

ANGEL c. FAVA'I'I. 

